7.2 Health & Care

An ageing population, a growing number of chronic diseases, the need for specialized care, pressure on health budgets and growing patient involvement have significantly impacted the healthcare sector right along the value chain.

In the biotechnology sphere, researchers are continuously working on new diagnostics and therapies, often with ground-breaking results. Medical technology is also evolving towards less invasive techniques and all-in consumables that meet high hospital standards, including for safety and efficiency. A necessary cost and efficiency awareness is leading hospitals and related service providers to optimize their care offerings through increasing specialization, through innovative care concepts with products and services that facilitate home nursing, and through concepts within institutions.

Responding to these developments, the Health & Care platform had a particularly active year with 4 new partnerships:

G-Therapeutics, a Swiss company that is developing an implantable spinal neurostimulator for patients with incomplete transverse lesion (partial paraplegia), collected EUR 26 million from Gimv and other investors (www.gtherapeutics.com).

A USD 2.7 million investment - as part of a total series D financing series of USD 25 million - in EndoStim, a Dutch medtech company that has designed a neurostimulator for patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux (GERD) (www.endostim.com).

Gimv and the Gimv Health & Care Fund provided EUR 30 million of growth capital to Spineart, a fast-growing Swiss medtech company active in spinal cord surgery products (www.spineart.com - see also highlight).

Breath Therapeutics raised EUR 43.5 million in a financing round co-led by Gimv. This German spin-out of PARI Pharma GmbH is committed to progressive and innovative inhalation therapies for severe respiratory tract disorders (www.breath-therapeutics.com).

In addition, the team sold its investment in Belgian company Multiplicom - with significant added value - to Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A). Multiplicom (www.multiplicom.com) is a leading diagnostics company with state-of-the-art technology and products for genetic testing. As the sixth VIB (Flemish Institute for Biotechnology) start-up, the company was supported by Gimv almost from the outset. With sustained financial support and strong involvement by Gimv, the company was able to develop its innovative diagnostic tests, get CE certification for its test kits and build up an EU-wide sales network.

There were also various investment transactions in the existing portfolio: Equipe Zorgbedrijven, a Dutch group of specialized clinics (www.equipezorgbedrijven.nl) completed its acquisition of Hand Therapy. Eurocept announced in mid-March 2017 that Excellent Clinics - an initiative of care entrepreneur and Eurocept CEO Mike van Woensel - had acquired a majority shareholding in Da Vinci Clinic (www.davincikliniek.nl) to make its innovative concept of specialist wound treatments and hyperbaric medicine accessible to patients across the Netherlands. Following a number of acquisitions and a merger in 2015, Almaviva Santé made during the past financial year another 4 acquisitions in the 2 regions in which it operates. This French group currently has 25 specialized clinics and rehabilitation centres (as against 7 when Gimv came on board in 2013) (www.almaviva-sante.fr). And finally, Benedenti, a Belgian group of multidisciplinary dental practices, acquired a leading group practice in Mechelen early 2017 (www.benedenti.be).

"We are very pleased that Gimv has entered our project so that we can together write the next chapter in Spineart's history." Jérôme Levieux & Stéphane Mugnier-Jabob, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Spineart

Business Profile
Spineart is a fast-growing Swiss medtech company that wants to simplify spinal surgery by designing, developing and promoting safe and efficient solutions for surgeons, operating teams and patients. As a pioneer in its field, Spineart has introduced unique patented and clinically validated technologies in the fields of mobility retention, fusion, biomaterials, minimally invasive surgery and repair of fractures. The company sells complete kits of sterile-packaged barcode-traceable implants in combination with compact instrument sets. This comprehensive approach addresses concerns for safety, cost efficiency and general hospital standards. In addition, Spineart offers excellent customer service and high-quality training for doctors.

Investment context
Spinal cord surgery is an attractive market worldwide offering a lot of space for innovators like Spineart. The company is differentiated by its European character, an extensive product range, a strong emphasis on product innovation and a comprehensive research and development pipeline.

Growth strategy
Spineart has solid growth ambitions in various areas: strengthening its sales organization, optimizing business processes, geographic expansion in existing markets like Europe and the United States, exploring new markets and further development of innovative and disruptive products. Gimv and the Gimv Health & Care Fund together invested EUR 30 million in the company, which has found in Gimv the right partner to grow to the next level. Here the Health & Care team can share its expertise in buy & build and international expansion with Spineart's experienced and committed management team.